Page 3 of Tom and Roberta Trips Travel Blog Posts


Europe » France » Rhône-Alpes » Tournon September 9th 2018

Day 8 On our Itinerary for this trip the next 2 towns to visit are Tournon and Viviers. Technically I guess we did "see" them however briefly. Our boat was docked at both these ports today, however, we did not tour these towns and only saw them from the very comfortable seats in our bus. I shall explain.... We signed up for a tour of Ardeche on the day we reached Tournon which we sort of assumed would be sort of like Lyon and Perouges two tours same day. But it was not to be. The boat docked in what appeared the time forgotten quaint little village of Tournon. I am sure the Romans came and conquered here at some point but their existence was not immediately apparent it was just a sleepy little village with ... read more
Vogue Church
Vogue building
Pont D'Arc

Europe » France » Rhône-Alpes » Vienne September 8th 2018

Day 7 The riverboat silently pulled away from its dock in Lyon on the afternoon of day 6 and we gently floated down the Rhone River towards Vienne where we arrived just a few short hours later. We remained on board for the evening knowing that at 9:00AM we would gather our guided tour equipment and wind our way through the streets to learn about this city and its secrets. Vienne is the first city of this trip that is new to Tom and I. The guided tours can be slow and tedious at times, however, we are committed to them because these local guides provide us with a window into the past of these towns along the Rhone. We actually learned a lot more about Lyon by just going on the guided tour to places ... read more
Vienne
Vienne
Vienne

Europe » France » Rhône-Alpes » Lyon September 7th 2018

Day 6 This was an unplanned day as we had not signed up for any of the special tours. We discovered that hundreds of years ago Lyon was the center of the silk trade. Catherine found a silk scarf shop yesterday when we were on tour but knew that there is a silk weaving shop in Vieux Lyon that has been there for hundreds of years. These merchants came on board yesterday and gave a silk dying demonstration but we missed it because we were in Perouges. We decided that we would hoof it back to Vieux Lyon and see if we could find the shop among the many twisting and turning streets in the old town. We were able to retrace our steps we took on the tour yesterday to the center of town, then ... read more
Loom
Silk pieces
Cord making equipment

Europe » France » Rhône-Alpes September 6th 2018

Day 5 Part II Our second tour of the day was an hour bus trip to the medieval town of Perouges. Walking up the cobbled street and entering through the arched gateway was like stepping back in time. I expected to see knights in shining armor and women washing clothing at the well in the center. The town sits high on a hill with spectacular views of the French alps and is built of boulders and stones. Perouges played a big part in the development of commerce in the area. Travelers would stop here over night on their way to the much bigger town of Lyon. Our guide Christopher brought us into the hundreds of years old church and as his voice echoed against the walls he walked us through the incredible history of this town ... read more
Perouges 2
Perouges 3
Perouges 4

Europe » France » Rhône-Alpes » Lyon September 6th 2018

Day 5 We wake on the riverboat and get ready for our first breakfast on board. One of my many guilty pleasures is there's bacon here. It's at the buffet station and you can have as much as you wish and this is where I'll eat that smoky, crispy bacon for seven straight days in a row. We've decided that Adrian will be our waiter for the entire trip. The boat has open seating for every meal so we need to be sure we are not late and go directly to one of Adrian's stations. After breakfast we go downstairs to prepare for the first of many walking tours we will take on this river Cruise. We checked the weather in Lyon today and there's a 40% chance it will rain and the sky has dark ... read more
Lyon - view from Fourviere
Lyon - Fourviere Village
Lyon - Market

Europe » France » Île-de-France September 2nd 2018

Paris 2018 Day 1........ The tedious journey across the Atlantic is finally over. We have arrived in our beautiful Paris! I have written this statement many times and each time our cab leaves the Pariferique and we approach our hotel I still look out the window in wonder noting how lucky I am to be here. Happy to be returning once again and yet seeing it with new eyes. It never gets old. We arrived late afternoon to a beautiful Summer day by the Seine. The streets filled with tourists and Parisians walking down the avenues or sitting at a corner bistro soaking in the Sun and scenery. Immediately the trials of the trip over and faster pace of home life quickly silp away from my being which is being filled with the anticipation of a ... read more
Place de la Sorbonne 1
Place De la Sorbonne 2
Eiffel Tower

Europe » France » Rhône-Alpes » Lyon August 7th 2018

Well I don't know what to say except.............France continues to pull at our heartstrings and beckons us to return to her charming towns and cities..... On September 1st we begin yet another adventure. On this journey we are traveling with our friends Catherine and Terry and will begin this trip in Paris France, which I am sure comes as no surprise to anyone. We are so excited to show our friends the Paris we know and love and have already planned walking tours of Montmartre, Luxembourg Park and a visit to Musee D'Orsay to name a few. Reservations have also have been made at Chez Andre and La Grande Colbert for two of our three dinners. We will then take a train to Lyon, the gastronomic capital of France where we will explore the wonders of ... read more

Europe » France » Île-de-France September 15th 2017

The flights from Budapest (don't forget the ending is pronounced Pescht) weren't completely horrible. We headed to Zurich first....DID NOT get a stamp in my passport...sigh. Then headed to Paris. I'd been watching the weather forecast and it looked like it would be raining almost the whole time we would be here. We actually didn't care if it rained because both Tom and I were a little under the weather (pun intended) and didn't care if we just slept in our favorite city. We know the city so well it would be easy to run out to some favorite spots rain or shine. True to the Internet, it was indeed pouring on arrival. We got into a taxi and head for the City Center. I told the driver exactly where we needed to go Rive Gauche ... read more
On the Rue to Montmartre
Eiffel Tower from Montmartre
In the square at Montmartre

Europe » Hungary » Central Hungary » Budapest September 14th 2017

Today is our only full day in Budapest and I also realize it is our final full day on board the the Viking ship Hermod. It has become so familiar to us. We walk down the passageways and stop and chat with other passengers as if we have been neighbors for years. We settled in easily and wonderfully and now so quickly tomorrow we leave Hungary, Eastern Europe to begin our journey home. We have one last tour today after breakfast and as we enter the dining room I see it with new eyes thinking this is my last breakfast here. We sit and are waited on by Alex and Polina, it has been exactly this way for the last 8 days but this morning it feels very different. We are called to make our way ... read more
St Matthias Cathedral
View of Parliment from the hill
Looking at the Hermod from the hill

Europe » Hungary » Central Hungary » Budapest September 14th 2017

Our final stop on the magical trip is Budapest. How did we get here so quickly? Where did the time go, Prague is already a distant memory....Tres Tragic! We had only a few hours in Bratislava because the ship was to sail into Budapest at night. All the buildings would be lit up. We ate dinner and waited for 10:00PM to come. It was pitch dark outside and nothing to see on either side. Everyone was up on the Sun deck staring at the bow of the ship as if waiting for a show to begin. Cameras in hand and all were silent..... We began to see lights in the distance so many it almost looked like the sun was going to rise. Slowly as we came closer you could make out the shapes of buildings ... read more
Chain Bridge
City lights
Castle




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